Letters

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/oOC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701.

COMMIEDIAN

Just reread Rebecca Schoenkopf's "I, Stalker" [Nov. 28] column and got laughing so hard I had to take Viagra to keep from rolling out of bed!

Anonymous
Via e-mail

Commie Girl, love your columns! We're using OC Weekly pages to wrap glassware at our store, and it's such fun to see little old ladies freak out when they read what their tea cups are wrapped in! Looking forward to future vicarious adventures!

Anonymous
Via e-mail

OLD NEWS

I am a fan of the Weekly, but Will Swaim's article on Laguna Woods ["Municide: How Laguna Woods Killed Itself," Dec. 19] was off the track. Like so many Laguna Woods residents, you do not understand city finances and the relationship between Leisure World and the city. Leisure World, with its 18,000 seniors and an annual operating budget of some $80 million, did not become Laguna Woods. The city's annual budget is $8.4 million. To say our "wealthy, gated enclave" incorporated to get more money is ridiculous. Not one cent of city revenue can be used by Leisure World. If that were to happen, Leisure World's gates would be open and the walls would come tumbling down. So why did the 18,000-plus residents of Laguna Woods incorporate? The major reason was opposition to a large commercial airport at the Marine Corps air station at El Toro. One of the first actions taken by the new city was to become a full voting member of the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority (ETRPA). Incorporation gave our residents a voice and political power we did not enjoy as an unincorporated community under the rule of an unsympathetic Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Will Swaim responds:Dave Blodgett is still writing fiction. To suggest that Laguna Woods is not Leisure World is to make a distinction without a difference. But I agree that Leisure World residents voted to incorporate they wanted a voice on the El Toro issue. I merely noted that they went on to use that voice to recall the governor and elect Arnold Schwarzenegger—a man who had promised to cut the Vehicle License Fee upon which Laguna Woods depends almost entirely. Dave's generation might have called that "kismet"; mine calls it "irony."

NAUGHTY BITS

I was very disappointed in Gustavo Arellano's article ["The Bawdy of Christ," Dec. 5]. He needs to get his facts straight. Never does he mention that the laptop was once owned by Father Salazar and in the hands of many other people before the pictures were discovered. He also has left out that when the District Attorney's Office looked into the case, they said that "there was no evidence to bring charges against Father Salazar." Father Salazar is a wonderful man and I am looking forward to his return. As for the painting on the back of the church, that's old news. Art is art. Some like it, some don't.

St. Joseph's parishioner
Via e-mail

Gustavo Arellano responds: Yes, Mr./Ms. St. Joseph's Parishioner, it is true that the DA refused to prosecute Salazar because investigators said they didn't have enough evidence. But the DA came to that conclusion without ever talking to the chief witness in the case: the man who found the kiddie porn on Salazar's former laptop. What's more, the Santa Ana Police Department recommended Salazar's prosecution and still believes it acted wisely in recommending it. All of this may explain why the FBI is now investigating the Salazar case.

RAGE AGAINST REASON

"Megadittos" to Chris Ziegler for his piece on Rage Against the Machine's era of music with a purpose ["Talk Radio's Left Echo," Dec. 26]. As one of Rush Limbaugh's "dittoheads" that Ziegler poked fun at, I am probably an ironic product of a lot of what Rage preached. I have taken many of their ideas and tried to apply them to the passion and compassion of what I think "compassionate conservatism" should be. In a time where 25,000 died in a tragic earthquake in Iran and all I can find on the news is Michael Jackson, the inspiration that RATM provided is much needed. Thanks for the reminder, Chris.

David Lemme
Via e-mail

Yo, Chris! Ever heard of asphalt? Maybe we could all toss these things out the window and fill the potholes in Whittier with these so-called petroleum products. Or is Whittier still on the other side of the curtain? Yes, I agree Rage's guitarist is quite resourceful at making all those silly sounds, but the repetition of some of these political rants is superbly formulaic and any A&R man's dream.

Paul Kostabi
Art Monkey Records

BITTER AFTERTASTE

Regarding Gustavo Arellano's gratuitous dig at us in the review of Rasthal Vegetarian Cuisine ["This Hole-in-the-Wall Life," Dec. 11]: he writes, "This ain't your Green Party fund-raiser spread of bland samosas and lukewarm lentil broth." I must ask, how many Green Party fund-raisers have you attended? No such fare has ever been served at a Green Party of Orange County event. I live with the GPOC food snob-on-a-budget and catering doyenne and she'd sooner be seen driving a Hummer than feeding people bland and lukewarm food. Once again, you seem to be talking about some Green Party other than the one in front of your face.